no reverse on SE106

[Fishermark]

I have an old 1972 Searay with an inline six 165 Mercruiser. A couple of years ago I replaced the original drive with a Sterndrive Engineering SE106. I have had this drive on for a couple of years and it has worked fine till now. Recently I have been having problems shifting - especially in reverse. So I figured it was time for a new shift cable.

This is where it gets odd.

I pulled the drive and decided to go ahead and put an impeller in while I had it off. Before pulling shift cable I checked it and discovered that it was routed wrong - after rerouting it seemed to move smoothly, so I went ahead and reinstalled the drive to check it before getting new cable.

I installed the outdrive back on the boat, but now have no reverse.

Even when I disconnect the shift cable and pull on the cable by hand, it will not go into reverse. Spinning the prop clockwise it ALMOST seems to want to catch, but does not. Goes into forward with no problem, prop locks counter clockwise. Cable operates smoothly.

When I pull the outdrive off the boat, it will shift into both forward and reverse with no problems.

My first thought was that I had the intermediate shift shaft off by a tooth. I pull the drive off again and put the drive in forward and the shift shaft is pointing straight ahead. It is dead on at the straight 12:00 position.

I double checked the shift cable slide and cavity. No obstructions there. The cable pulls smoothly all the way in.

Reinstall the drive. Same thing. No reverse. It seems that the shift shoe will not turn far enough to get the unit to go into reverse. It is CLOSE - but not quite there.

I did a search of the forum and other sites, and did a test of the movement on the shift shaft to see if the shift spool might be worn....

Click here to see the results of the test.

[admin]

The shift spool sounds like it is a bit sloppy. It is hard to see the exact degrees in the video, although you said it seems close to 13. It's been awhile since i checked, but i bet a new lower has about 10 degrees of slop. The problem with an older boat is that everything starts to wear a little bit. You should check the roller assembly that goes into the shift slide. Also check the amount of slop that you have between the intermediate shift shaft and the upper shift shaft in the bell housing. Also make sure the bushings in the bell housing that hold the upper shift shaft are now worn. Those will get streched out some over time from wear, or from people pulling the drive off with out having it in forward. It is also a good idea to make sure that the shift cable is screwed completely into the bell housing. If it is not screwed completely in, it will limit the amount of reverse throw. Basically there are alot of things that can cause it, including the shift spool in the lower. I don't think 1 degree will be the difference between shifting and not, so i would recommend checking everything else.

Tech Support

[Fishermark]

Everything seems pretty tight and has very little noticible wear. I will go ahead and order the new style upper shift shaft bushings, and put a new shift arm on it. I will even put in a new shift cable... although I do not believe there is anything wrong with my old cable. I will post back with my findings after installing the new items.

[admin]

If I recall, you are local to us, correct? I am not saying that changing the shift spool in the drive wouldn't fix the problem, just that all of the pieces combined can add up to shifting issues. If you want to drop off the lower here, we will certainly take a look at it for you.

Tech Support

[Fishermark]

Yes, I am local - good memory! I understand the concept that all the items need to work together properly to shift right. And it could be a combination of everything being just a little loose.

I will probably wait till I get the new parts installed. I am not optimistic that it will work, as all the pertinent parts are pretty tight with little to no slop... but I have been wanting to install the newer style bushings anyway.

Thanks - I will let you know how it goes.

[Fishermark]

Quick follow up - replaced the shift cable and shift arm. Installed new style upper shift shaft bushings. Everything is as smooth as silk.... but still no reverse.

Do I need to call the warranty dept before bringing it in? Let me know. Thanks.

Also - do I just bring in the lower, or the whole thing?

Here's the new bushings installed:





Here's the shift cable and new arm:

[admin]

Yes, please give the warranty department a call Monday morning just so they know to expect you.

Tech Support